Optical fiber connector and assembling device for the same

ABSTRACT

An optical fiber connector includes a fixing module for gripping an optical fiber, an inner housing sleeved on the fixing module; and an outer housing sleeved on the inner housing. The fixing module includes a support member, a fastening member mating with the support member, and a locking member sleeved on the support member. The locking member forms at least one pair of gripping portions at outer surfaces of the locking member. The inner housing defines a pair of sliding grooves in a side wall thereof. The outer housing defines a pair of operating grooves communicating with the pair of sliding grooves correspondingly. The locking member is capable of sliding along the support member to grip or unlock the optical fiber driven by an assembly tool engaging with the pair of gripping portions through the pair of sliding grooves and the pair of operating grooves.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §119 fromChina Patent Application No. 201210100974.8, filed on Apr. 9, 2012, inthe China Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. The application is also related toco-pending applications entitled, “FIBER END SURFACE MACHINING DEVICEAND FIBER POSITION STRUCTURE THEREOF” Ser. No. 13/792,218; “FIBERMACHINING DEVICE AND ASSEMBLING METHOD FOR OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTOR” Ser.No. 13/792,219; “OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTOR” Ser. No. 13/792,221; “OPTICALFIBER CONNECTOR” Ser. No. 13/792,222; “OPTICAL FIBER CONNECTOR” Ser. No.13/792,223; “OPTICAL FIBER CLAMPING MECHANISM AND OPTICAL FIBERCONNECTOR USING THE SAME” Ser. No. 13/792,229.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to connectors, particularly to an opticalfiber connector and an assembling device for the optical fiberconnector.

2. Description of the Related Art

Fiber To The Home is widely used in the telecommunications field, andmany optical fiber connectors are needed for connecting the opticalfiber. An optical fiber connector generally includes an optical ferrulewith an optical fiber stub already terminated in the optical ferrule, anoptical fiber holder, and a clamp sleeve sleeved on the optical fiberholder to fasten a field optical fiber. To improve the quality ofoptical coupling and minimize Fresnel losses of the optical fiberconnector, an end surface of the field optical fiber may be treated bypolishing. However, the end surface of the field optical fiber may bescraped during the assembling process of the field optical fiber andgenerate a plurality of depressions, cracks, or scratches at the endsurface of the optical fiber, which will increase a light loss andaffect the efficiency of data transmission of the optical connector.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, theemphasis instead placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of thepresent disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an isometric, assembled view of an embodiment of an opticalfiber connector.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of the optical fiber connector ofFIG. 1 including a fixing module.

FIG. 3 is an exploded, isometric view of the fixing module of FIG. 2including a fastening member.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3, but viewed from another aspect.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, isometric view of the fastening member of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an isometric, assembled view of an embodiment of an assemblydevice including an assembly tool for assembling the optical fiberconnector of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a circled portion VI of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an isometric, assembled view of the assembly device of FIG. 6in a first state, loading with a heating mechanism.

FIG. 9 is an assembled, isometric view of the optical fiber connector ofFIG. 1 being clamped by the assembly tool of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the fixing module of FIG. 2 beingclamped by the assembly tool of FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber connector of FIG.9 taken along the line XII-XII, showing the fixing module at anungripped state.

FIG. 12 is similar to FIG. 8, but showing assembly device of FIG. 6 in asecond state.

FIG. 13 is similar to FIG. 11, but showing the fixing module at agripping state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of an optical fiber connector 100. Theoptical fiber connector 100 includes an optical fiber ferrule 10, afixing module 20, an elastic member 30, an inner housing 51, an outerhousing 53, and a boot 70. The optical fiber ferrule 10 is positioned onone end of the fixing module 20. The elastic member 30 is sleeved on theother end of the fixing module 20 away from the optical fiber ferrule10. The inner housing 51 is sleeved on the fixing module 20. The outerhousing 53 is sleeved on the inner housing 51. The boot 70 is sleeved onan end of the inner housing 51 away from the outer housing 53. In anillustrated embodiment, the optical fiber connector 100 is a SubscriberConnector (SC) optical fiber connector. The optical fiber connector 100grips a cable 80. The cable 80 includes an optical fiber 82, an innercoating 84 formed on the optical fiber 82, and an outer coating 86formed on the inner coating 84. To facilitate the gripping of the cable80 in the optical fiber connector 100, part of the outer coating 86 andthe inner coating 84 are removed to expose the optical fiber 82.

The optical fiber ferrule 10 is substantially cylindrical, and is madeof ceramic materials. The optical fiber ferrule 10 axially defines athrough hole 102 (seen in FIG. 11) to receive the optical fiber 82. Theoptical fiber ferrule 10 further defines a guiding hole 104 (seen inFIG. 11) communicating with the through hole 102 in an end of theoptical fiber ferrule 10 to facilitate the insertion of the opticalfiber 82 into the through hole 102. In the illustrated embodiment, adiameter of the through hole 102 is slightly larger than a diameter ofthe optical fiber 82, to facilitate passing the optical fiber 82through. The optical fiber 82 can be elastically bent in the throughhole 102, when an end of the optical fiber 82 encounters resistance,which holds the optical fiber 82 in place. The guiding hole 104 can besubstantially funnel shaped with a smaller end of the guiding hole 104communicating with the through hole 102, which prevents the opticalfiber 82 from breaking when being bent at a distal end of the throughhole 102.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show an embodiment of a fixing module 20. In theembodiment, the fixing module 20 is a sleeve. The fixing module 20includes a support member 22, a fastening member 24 mating with thesupport member 22, and a locking member 26. The locking member 26 issleeved on the support member 22 and the fastening member 24 to grip theoptical fiber 82.

The support member 22 is substantially cylindrical. The support member22 includes a fixing portion 222, a first assembling portion 224, and asecond assembling portion 226. The first assembling portion 224 and thesecond assembling portion 226 extend outward from opposite ends of thefixing portion 222. The second assembling portion 226 forms a latchingportion 2266 protruding from the outer surface of the assembling portion226 adjacent to an end of the second assembling portion 226 away fromthe fixing portion 222.

In the illustrated embodiment, a cross section of the fixing portion 222is rectangular, and the fixing portion 222 defines a receiving portion2220 for receiving the fastening member 24. The fixing portion 222further defines a first restricting groove 2222 in the bottom of thereceiving portion 2220 extending in a direction substantially parallelto an optical axis of the optical fiber connector 100. The firstrestricting groove 2222 is a V-shaped groove. The first restrictinggroove 2222 can also be a U-shaped groove. The fixing portion 222 formsa pair of protrusions 2224 protruding from opposite sides of the fixingportion 222 adjacent to the first assembling portion 224. Theprotrusions 2224 are located at opposite sides of the receiving portion2220. The first assembling portion 224 axially defines an assemblinghole 2240 communicating with the first restricting groove 2222. Thesecond assembling portion 226 axially defines a receiving hole 2260communicating with the first restricting groove 2222. Both a diameter ofthe assembling hole 2240 and a diameter of the receiving hole 2260 arelarger than a width of the restricting groove 2222. Referring to FIG. 6,a guiding groove 2226 is defined in an inner surface of the firstrestricting groove 2222 adjacent to the assembling hole 2240. Thereceiving hole 2260 is stepped. The receiving hole 2260 includes a firstguiding hole 2262 at an end thereof away from the first restrictinggroove 2222 and a second guiding hole 2264 adjacent to and communicatingwith the first restricting groove 2222. A diameter of the second guidinghole 2264 is less than a diameter of the first guiding hole 2262.

The fastening member 24 is received in the receiving portion 2220 of thesupporting member 22, and mates with the supporting member 22 so as tofasten the optical fiber 82 of the cable 80. The fastening member 24includes a first resisting portion 242 and a second resisting portion244 slantingly connected with the first resisting portion 242. The firstresisting portion 242 includes a first resisting surface 2422 facing thebottom of the receiving portion 2220. The second resisting portion 244includes a second resisting surface 2442 facing the bottom of thereceiving portion 2220. When the locking member 26 slides along thefixing portion 222, the first resisting surface 2422 and the secondresisting surface 2442 resists the bottom of the receiving portion 2220in turn. The first resisting surface 2422 defines a second restrictinggroove 2424 corresponding to the first restricting groove 2222. Thesecond resisting surface 2442 defines a guiding groove 2446communicating with the second restricting groove 2424. The bottom of theguiding groove 2446 is a slanted surface, the guiding groove 2446 isdeeper than the second restricting groove 2424, and the depth of theguiding groove 2446 gradually increases from the end adjacent to thesecond restricting groove 2424 to the other end. In the illustratedembodiment, the first resisting surface 2422 and the second resistingsurface 2442 are both flat surfaces intersecting at an adjoining line2444. In alternative embodiments, the surface between the firstresisting surface 2422 and the second resisting surface 2442 can have asmooth curve.

In an alternative embodiment, the second resisting surface 2424 can beomitted, and the optical fiber 82 can be fixed in the fixing module 20by means of the first resisting surface 2422 resisting the optical fiber82.

In an alternative embodiment, the guiding groove 2446 can be formed atan end of the receiving portion 2220 adjacent to the second resistingsurface 2442.

The locking member 26 is substantially a sleeve. The locking member 26axially defines a through hole 260 mating with a cross section of thefixing portion 222 of the support member 22. The locking member 26 formstwo pairs of gripping portions 262 at outer surfaces of the lockingmember 26. One pair of the gripping portions 262 defines a pair oflocking holes 2622 corresponding to the pair of protrusions 2224. Aslanted surface 2624 is formed at an inner surface of the locking member26 adjacent to an end of the locking member 26, the slanted surface 2624is formed between the pair of locking holes 2622, and a diameter of thethrough hole 260 adjacent to the second assembling portion 226 is largerthan a diameter of the through hole 260 away from the second assemblingportion 226. In alternative embodiments, the number of the grippingportions 262 can be one pair.

The elastic member 30 is a compression spring sleeved on the secondassembling portion 226 in the embodiment. The inner housing 51 defines apair of sliding grooves 511 in a sidewall thereof extending in adirection substantially parallel to the optical axis of the opticalfiber connector 100. The inner housing 51 has an external thread 44 atan end thereof. The inner housing 51 further forms a locking portion 515(seen in FIG. 11) at an inner surface thereof corresponding to thelatching portion 2266.

The outer housing 53 is shaped to facilitate the connection of theoptical fiber connector 100 into an SC adapter (not shown) in theembodiment. In an alternative embodiment, the outer housing 53 can beshaped to facilitate the installation of the optical fiber connector 100to other types of adapters. The outer housing 53 defines a pair ofoperating grooves 531 communicating with the pair of sliding grooves 511of the inner housing 51. The boot 70 fastens on an end of the innerhousing 51.

FIG. 11 shows that in assembly of the optical fiber connector 100, thefastening member 24 is received in the receiving portion 2220 of thesupport member 22. The locking member 26 is sleeved on an end of thesupport member 22 adjacent to the second assembling portion 226 (seen inFIG. 11). The optical fiber ferrule 10 is fastened in the assemblinghole 2240 of the fixing module 20. The elastic member 30 is sleeved onthe second assembling portion 226. The fixing module 20 is assembled inthe inner housing 51 with the latching portion 2266 engaging with thelocking portion 515. One end of the elastic member 30 resists thelocking portion 515, and the other end of the elastic member 30 resistsa distal end of the fixing portion 222. The outer housing 53 is sleevedon the inner housing 51 with the pair of operating grooves 531communicating with the pair of sliding grooves 511. Finally, the boot 70is fastened on a distal end of the inner housing 51 away from the outerhousing 53.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show an embodiment of an assembly device 300 for assemblingthe optical fiber connector 100. The assembly device 300 includes a baseseat 301, an assembling tool 303, a clamping assembly 304, a resistingmember 307, an elastic member (not shown), and a driving member 308. Theclamping assembly 304, the resisting member 307, the elastic member, andthe driving member 308 are located on the base seat 301. The assemblingtool 303 is applied to slide the fastening member 26 of the opticalfiber connector 100. The clamping assembly 304 is applied to fix theoptical fiber connector 100 on the base seat 301. The driving member 307is applied to drive the resisting member 307 to move towards the opticalfiber connector 100. The resisting member 307 is applied to elasticallyresist the optical fiber 82 via the elastic member.

The base seat 301 is substantially a block. The base seat 301 includesan assembly surface 3011 and an assembly portion 3012 protruding out ofthe assembly surface 3011. The assembly portion 3012 defines an assemblyhole 3013 extending in a direction substantially parallel to theassembly surface 3011 for assembling the resisting member 307.

The assembling tool 303 is substantially U-shaped and includes a baseportion 3031 and a pair of elastic arms 3033 extending substantiallyperpendicularly from opposite ends of the base portion 3031. Each of thepair of elastic arms 3033 includes a pair of elastic portions 3034.

The clamping assembly 304 includes a pair of clamping portions 305 and apair of gripping portions 306 for clamping the optical fiber connector100. The resisting member 307 is movably fixed in the assembly hole 3013of the assembly portion 3012 and is protruding out of an end of theassembly portion 3012 adjacent to the clamping assembly 304. Theresisting member 307 includes a resisting portion 3071 at an endadjacent to the clamping assembly 304. The resisting member 307 definesa receiving groove 3073 at a distal end of the resisting portion 3071. Adepth of the receiving groove 3073 is controlled to be in a range fromabout 2 μm to about 4 μm. In the illustrated embodiment, the depth ofthe receiving groove 3073 is about 3 μm.

In the illustrated embodiment, the driving member 308 is a rotatingmember including a cam, and the driving member 308 is loaded at asidewall of the base seat 301 adjacent to an end of the resisting member307 away from the clamping assembly 304. The driving member 308 drivesthe resisting member 307 to move towards or away from the optical fiberferrule 10 in a straight line parallel to the assembly surface 3011. Inan alternative embodiment, the driving member 308 can be a screw rod.

The base seat 301 defines a pair of locating holes 3015 (seen in FIG. 7)for assembling a heating mechanism 500 to treat an end surface of theoptical fiber 82. The heating mechanism 500 includes a pair ofpositioning portions 501, a pair of electrodes 503, a shielding cover505, and a control unit (not shown). The pair of positioning portions501 are positioned in the two locating holes 3015 respectively. The pairof electrodes 503 are located on the pair of positioning portions 501respectively. The pair of electrodes 503 are positioned opposite to eachother and adjacent to the resisting portion 3071 of the assembly device300. The shielding cover 505 is covered on the pair of electrodes 503,and the control unit (not shown) is applied to control a dischargevoltage or a discharge time of the pair of electrodes 503.

In assembling the cable 80 to the optical fiber connector 100, theoptical fiber connector 100 is loaded on the assembly device 300 and isclamped by the pair of clamping portions 305 and the pair of grippingportions 306. The boot 70 is taken off from the inner housing 51; theoptical fiber 82 of the cable 80 is inserted into the fixing module 20from a distal end of the inner housing 51 away from the outer housing53. In an initial state, as shown in FIG. 11, the locking member 26 islocated at an end of the fixing portion 222 adjacent to the secondassembling portion 226, the second resisting surface 2442 resistsagainst the bottom of the receiving portion 2220, and the firstresisting surface 2422 is distorted to form a gap (as seen in FIG. 11)between the first resisting surface 2422 and the bottom of the receivingportion 2220. The optical fiber 82 is inserted into the fixing module 20with a length of the optical fiber 82 protruding out of the opticalfiber ferrule 10 is controlled to be located between the pair ofelectrodes 503. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the assembly device300 is in a first state. Turn on the heating mechanism 500, and a highpressure electric arc is generated between the two electrodes 503 undera discharge voltage to heat the end surface of the optical fiber 82 toan elevated temperature near the melting point of the fiber material.When all defects of the end surface of the optical fiber 82 havedisappeared or have been smoothed, the heating is stopped. The endsurface of the optical fiber 82 cools to reveal a smooth, roundedconfiguration.

The driving member 308 drives the resisting member 307 to move towardsthe optical fiber ferrule 10 until the resisting portion 3071 resists adistal end of the optical fiber ferrule 10. At this time, as shown ifFIG. 12, the assembly device 300 is in a second state. The optical fiber82 protruding out of the optical fiber ferrule 10 is received in thereceiving groove 3073, and a length of the optical fiber 82 protrudingout of the optical fiber ferrule 10 is substantially the same as thedepth of the receiving groove 3073.

To slide the locking member 26, the pair of elastic arms 3033 of theassembling tool 303 are passed through the pair of operating grooves 531and the pair of sliding grooves 511 successively, and the elastic arms3033 latch with the two pairs of gripping portions 262. An operatorslides the assembling tool 303 along the pair of operating grooves 531to slide the locking member 26 towards an end of the fixing portion 222adjacent to the first assembling portion 224 until the pair of lockingholes 2622 engage with the pair of protrusions 2224. As shown in FIG.13, the first resisting surface 2422 resists against the bottom of thereceiving portion 2220 to fix the optical fiber 82 received in the firstrestricting groove 2222 in place. The boot 70 is fastened on a distalend of the inner housing 51 to fasten on and secure the outer coating 86of the cable 80.

The pair of locking holes 2622 engaging with the pair of protrusions2224 prevent the locking member 26 from sliding. In an alternativeembodiment, the pair of locking holes 2622 and the pair of protrusions2224 can be omitted.

When the optical fiber 82 needs to be removed from the optical fiberconnector 100, the locking member 26 is slid via the assembling tool 303to its initial state and the boot 70 taken off. The assembling tool 303should be taken off the optical fiber connector 100 when the opticalfiber connector 100 is in a state of use, but the locking member 26cannot be slid along the fixing module 20 without the assembling tool303, which prevents the optical connector 100 from being knocked off byaccident, and ensure the optical fiber is firmly fixed in the fixingmodule 20.

The end surface of the optical fiber 82 is smoothed by the method, whichincreases the contact area between the optical fiber 82 and anotheroptical fiber abutting the optical fiber 82. A length of the opticalfiber 82 protruding out of the optical fiber ferrule 10 is controlled tobe in a range from about 2 μm to about 4 μm. When the optical connector100 is assembled on an adapter (not shown) to join with another opticalfiber connector (not shown), the end surface of the optical fiber 82 ofthe optical fiber connector 100 resists the end surface of the opticalfiber of the other optical fiber connector, and the optical fiber 82will be bent, which puts the two end surfaces in continuous contact witheach other. In addition, the end surface of the optical fiber 82 will beenlarged after the end surface of the optical fiber 82 has been treated,and the diameter of the end surface of the optical fiber 82 is nearlythe same as the diameter of the through hole 102. Abutting on the endsurface of the optical fiber of the other optical fiber connector, theend surface of the optical fiber 82 will be firmly received in thethrough hole 102 of the optical fiber ferrule 10.

The optical fiber connector 100 is firmly clamped by the pair ofclamping portions 305 and the pair of gripping portions 306. Theassembly tool 303 slides the fastening member 26 of the fixing module 20to lock or unlock the optical fiber 82. In addition, the resistingmember 307 is capable of controlling a length of the optical fiber 82protruding out of the optical fiber ferrule 10. It is convenient toassemble the cable 80 to the optical fiber connector 100 or disassemblethe cable 80 from the optical fiber connector 100.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, the description is illustrative of thedisclosure and is not to be construed as limiting the disclosure.Therefore, various modifications can be made to the embodiments by thoseof ordinary skill in the art without departing from the true spirit andscope of the disclosure, as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical fiber connector, comprising: a fixingmodule for gripping an optical fiber, the fixing module comprising asupport member, a fastening member mating with the support member, and alocking member sleeved on the support member; an inner housing sleevedon the fixing module; and an outer housing sleeved on the inner housing,wherein the locking member forms at least one pair of gripping portionsat outer surfaces of the locking member, the inner housing defines apair of sliding grooves in a side wall thereof, the outer housingdefines a pair of operating grooves communicating with the pair ofsliding grooves correspondingly, and the locking member is capable ofsliding along the support member to grip or unlock the optical fiberdriven by an assembly tool engaging with the at least one pair ofgripping portions through the pair of sliding grooves and the pair ofoperating grooves.
 2. The optical fiber connector of claim 1, whereinthe support member comprises a fixing portion, and a first assemblingportion and a second assembling portion extending from opposite ends ofthe fixing portion, the fixing portion defines a receiving portion, thefastening member comprises a first resisting portion and a secondresisting portion slantingly connected with the first resisting portion,the first resisting portion comprises a first resisting surface facingthe bottom of the receiving portion, the second resisting portioncomprises a second resisting surface facing the bottom of the receivingportion, the fastening member is received in the receiving portion, thelocking member is sleeved on the fixing portion, and the first resistingsurface and the second resisting surface resists the bottom of thereceiving portion in turn as the locking member slides along the fixingportion.
 3. The optical fiber connector of claim 2, wherein the fixingportion defines a first restricting groove in the bottom of thereceiving portion extending in a direction substantially parallel to anoptical axis of the optical fiber connector, the first assemblingportion axially defines an assembling hole communicating with the firstrestricting groove, the second assembling portion axially defines areceiving hole communicating with the first restricting groove, and botha diameter of the assembling hole and a diameter of the receiving holeare larger than a width of the restricting groove.
 4. The optical fiberconnector of claim 3, wherein the first resisting surface defines asecond restricting groove corresponding to the first restricting groove,the second resisting surface defines a guiding groove communicating withthe second restricting groove, the bottom of the guiding groove is aslanted surface, the guiding groove is deeper than the secondrestricting groove, and a depth of the guiding groove is graduallydeeper from one end of the guiding groove adjacent to the secondrestricting groove to the other end of the guiding groove away from thesecond restricting groove.
 5. The optical fiber connector of claim 2,wherein the locking member axially defines a through hole mating withthe cross section of the fixing portion of the support member.
 6. Theoptical fiber connector of claim 1, wherein the locking member forms twopairs of gripping portions at the outer surface of the locking member.7. The optical fiber connector of claim 6, wherein the fixing portionforms a pair of protrusions protruding out from opposite sides of thefixing portion adjacent to the first assembling portion, and the pair ofthe gripping portions adjacent to the first assembling portion define apair of locking holes for engaging with the pair of protrusions.
 8. Theoptical fiber connector of claim 7, wherein the locking member furthercomprises a slanted surface formed at an inner surface of the lockingmember adjacent to an end of the locking member, the slanted surface islocated between the pair of locking holes, and a diameter of the throughhole adjacent to the second assembling portion is larger than a diameterof the through hole away from the second assembling portion.